1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a mid-body paper discharge system where a discharge tray is provided between an image forming unit and an image reading unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional image forming apparatuses are provided with a discharge tray on outside of a main body (left or right side of the main body) for discharging a recording medium (a sheet of paper, for example) that has undergone a desired image forming process. However, this type of discharge system requires additional installation space for the discharge tray in addition to the installation space for the main body.
Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese patent-application publication No. 2003-241460, an image forming apparatus having a mid-body paper discharge system has been proposed in recent years. The image forming apparatus includes a main body having an image forming unit, an image reading unit disposed at a position above the main body, and a discharge tray positioned between the image forming unit and the image reading unit. The image reading unit is supported on the main body in such a manner that image reading unit is pivotally movable about a pivoting axis. By pivotally moving the image reading unit open to widen the space between the two units, an operator can easily retrieve paper from the discharge tray.